Audi Q5 TDI or Porsche Cayenne Diesel?

Oldboatdriver

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MD
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2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI, 2015 Porsche Cayenne Diesel
Looking at a car for the wife. 2014-2016 Cayenne Diesel or same-year Q5 TDI. She's always loved the Cayenne, so I'm leaning that way.

I heard that high pressure fuel pumps can disintegrate and send metal all through the fuel system and will require five figures to fix. Is this true of the model years I'm targeting or did VW come up with a fix by then?

General performance, handling, reliability/maintainability advice would be much appreciated as well.
 

Mythdoc

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Jan 28, 2017
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Tennessee
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2011 Touareg, 2015 Q5, 2015 Golf
Looking at a car for the wife. 2014-2016 Cayenne Diesel or same-year Q5 TDI. She's always loved the Cayenne, so I'm leaning that way.



I heard that high pressure fuel pumps can disintegrate and send metal all through the fuel system and will require five figures to fix. Is this true of the model years I'm targeting or did VW come up with a fix by then?



General performance, handling, reliability/maintainability advice would be much appreciated as well.

First, both vehicles have a HPFP. They can fail, but it doesn’t happen all that often. Furthermore, should it happen either diesel would be covered under the dieselgate extended warranty until 10 years after the car’s first service date.

A Cayenne vs a Q7 would be the more comparable size comparison, or even better a Cayenne vs a VW Touareg. The Q5 is a significantly smaller vehicle than any of the three listed above. I own one and love it. It’s nimbler than the Touareg I used to own, and it gets way better mpg’s.
 

Oldboatdriver

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MD
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2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI, 2015 Porsche Cayenne Diesel
Would you recommend replacing the pump on speculation? If so, how much is that roughly?

I realize that the Q7 and Cayenne are more apples to apples but we're dealing with a woman who knows what she likes--Cayenne or Q5. Wish me luck! Good to hear that your Q5 is doing well. Thanks for the info!
 

Mythdoc

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Location
Tennessee
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2011 Touareg, 2015 Q5, 2015 Golf
Would you recommend replacing the pump on speculation? If so, how much is that roughly?

No, I wouldn’t replace it preventively. I have done that with other cars with other type problems so I understand the logic, but the HPFP problem is not widespread enough to warrant a $1500 expense, especially when you have warranty coverage.

Here’s what I would do, though. Always use a diesel fuel additive to control water in the lines, and always be careful to refuel at stations that sell a lot of diesel so you are not putting in leftover summer fuel in winter, or whatnot.
 

Oldboatdriver

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MD
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2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI, 2015 Porsche Cayenne Diesel
Roger that. I was thinking out of warranty coverage. We don't drive too much and would easily hit 10 years before we hit 100K.

Should I be doing the fuel additive with my '15 GSW or is that pump more robust?
 

Mythdoc

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Tennessee
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2011 Touareg, 2015 Q5, 2015 Golf
Roger that. I was thinking out of warranty coverage. We don't drive too much and would easily hit 10 years before we hit 100K.



Should I be doing the fuel additive with my '15 GSW or is that pump more robust?


I would use it. I’m not sure which is more prone to fail, 2.0 or 3.0, statistically. My guess would be the 2.0, but there are multiple 2.0’s on the road for every 3.0 so I could be mistaken in that.
 

dunerking

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04 Jetta TDI
The wife has a 13 Cayenne diesel and we really enjoy it. I do however would like a tune since having the emissions done. It still runs well but would like it back to where the original performance was at previously.
 

oilhammer

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There are just too many to list....
FWIW, the Q5 rolls on a modified Audi A4 platform, and is smaller, lighter, much more nimble than the others. It also enjoys the best power to weight ratio, and with the V6 TDI it really scoots well.

Although for about the same money, you can get the A6 TDI, which is a bigger, nicer ride to begin with, and has the same engine.
 

Oldboatdriver

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Thanks guys. A6 isn't going to happen. She likes to sit higher so it has to be an SUV--unfortunately.
 

RebelTDI

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Boston, MA
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2016 Audi Q5 TDI, 2016 BMW 535d Xdrive
Sounds like a win-win decision to me. Probably best to drive both if you can. I suspect maintenance costs will be higher for the Porsche, if that's a consideration. I'll confirm that the Q5 is quick. It'll put you back in your seat when you step on it, without any tuning.
 

BarryT82

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Mar 26, 2010
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Charleston, WV
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‘12 JSW TDI
I’m not a fan of the interior layout of the Cayenne, but I do like the exterior. Both are nice vehicles. Having had two Q5 TDI’s I’ll tell you that the sunroof creaking when it’s cold is very annoying. If you want to modify the vehicle at all you’ll have more options with the Q5 and you’ll probably get a better price. Look for a TDI with the S-Line package and adaptive cruise. The S-Line looks so much better.
 

dunerking

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Thanks guys. A6 isn't going to happen. She likes to sit higher so it has to be an SUV--unfortunately.
This is mostly why we did the buyback on here JSW and got into the Cayenne. We would've gone either way on a Q5/7 or the Cayenne but ended up getting a great deal on a very low mileage Cayenne. End result is we're very happy the way it worked out as the Cayenne is a pleasure to drive.
 

Oldboatdriver

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2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI, 2015 Porsche Cayenne Diesel
As my search continues for the wife's Q5 TDI or Cayenne Diesel, I stumbled upon a Cayenne E-Hybrid. At first I didn't like the idea until I found out that it's a plug-in Hybrid and actually can drive about 15 miles on electric only. It also loses about 45 percent of its value in 2 years. I'm looking at a '16 model that's $53K with 21K miles on it. Sure, a diesel is cheaper BUT since the wife spends much of her commute in crawling traffic the hybrid makes more sense than a diesel. (Putting on a flame suit.) While the diesel idles through all the traffic, the hybrid's gasoline motor will be completely off. Further, her parking lot at work has plug-ins and she could have a full charge leaving home as well as leaving work. By my calculations, she should be able to get better than 50 mpg (of premium gas--yuck) on her commute to/from work. Anybody heard any nightmare stories about these? I may need to be talked off the ledge here. Thoughts?
 

Mythdoc

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Tennessee
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2011 Touareg, 2015 Q5, 2015 Golf
As my search continues for the wife's Q5 TDI or Cayenne Diesel, I stumbled upon a Cayenne E-Hybrid. At first I didn't like the idea until I found out that it's a plug-in Hybrid and actually can drive about 15 miles on electric only. It also loses about 45 percent of its value in 2 years. I'm looking at a '16 model that's $53K with 21K miles on it. Sure, a diesel is cheaper BUT since the wife spends much of her commute in crawling traffic the hybrid makes more sense than a diesel. (Putting on a flame suit.) While the diesel idles through all the traffic, the hybrid's gasoline motor will be completely off. Further, her parking lot at work has plug-ins and she could have a full charge leaving home as well as leaving work. By my calculations, she should be able to get better than 50 mpg (of premium gas--yuck) on her commute to/from work. Anybody heard any nightmare stories about these? I may need to be talked off the ledge here. Thoughts?


I’d look on Rennlist for owner experiences. The Touareg had a hybrid for a couple of years, I’m guessing the same setup. You could check Club Touareg. Based on her use case, a hybrid might actually be better than a TDI. Crawling traffic is not the best for diesel.
 

whizznbyu

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2015 Golf Sportwagen 6 speed manual. B5 died at 302k miles.
I best thing an owner can do to help kick the HPFP explosion can down the road is to change the diesel fuel filter every 20K miles. I've read where some people put some special 2 stroke oil in minute amounts in the fuel tank with every fill. Not sure how that will make the HPFP feel; as I understand it, the tolerances of this pump are pretty tight. So tight that if one took a HPFP apart and set the cylinder assembly aside and held the piston in your hands for 5 minutes, the piston expands ever so slightly under body temp that it won't fit in the cylinder at room temp (maybe refrigerated?). This is what I was told by a master mechanic who was trained and briefed on the HPFP in a Cayenne.
My 2009 HPFP disintegrated at around 115K miles. Replaced the HPFP, and entire fuel system forward of the HPFP under warranty believe it or not.
 

Oldboatdriver

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MD
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2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI, 2015 Porsche Cayenne Diesel
Thanks for all the tips, fellas. Monday I bought a very nicely kept, certified 2015 Cayenne Diesel with about 35K miles on it. Bumper-bumper warranty til April 2021. I'd love to post a pic of it, but I can't see how to do that on this forum.

Anyway, I've never driven a Porsche before and WOW this thing drives great. Wonderful low-end torque and grips the road like glue with 265-series tires. All while getting an indicated 27 mpg in mixed driving so far. If the computer is anything like my GSW, I can go ahead and subtract 3 mpg when I do the manual calculation. And dunerking, I ordered Optilube XPD on the same day. My wife is going to have an amazing Christmas gift. I'm jealous. Got a bow for the hood too!
 
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Mythdoc

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2017
Location
Tennessee
TDI
2011 Touareg, 2015 Q5, 2015 Golf
Thanks for all the tips, fellas. Monday I bought a very nicely kept, certified 2015 Cayenne Diesel with about 35K miles on it. Bumper-bumper warranty til April 2021. I'd love to post a pic of it, but I can't see how to do that on this forum.

Anyway, I've never driven a Porsche before and WOW this thing drives great. Wonderful low-end torque and grips the road like glue with 265-series tires. All while getting an indicated 27 mpg in mixed driving so far. If the computer is anything like my GSW, I can go ahead and subtract 3 mpg when I do the manual calculation. And dunerking, I ordered Optilube XPD on the same day. My wife is going to have an amazing Christmas gift. I'm jealous. Got a bow for the hood too!


Congrats on your purchase. [emoji106]
 
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